Immersion not working

retro:electro

Hi. Just went down to switch on the immersion to heat the water and noticed the red light didn't come on. I left it switched down for a few minutes to see would it still heat the water but no luck. Any idea what the cause may be? If I try to flick the switch back up the way the light comes on for a second but it doesn't remain on.

Sleeper12

Sounds like a faulty immersion switch & it needs replacing

retro:electro

I turned on the oil heating to heat some water but it doesn't seem to be heating the cylinder but all the pipes around it are very hot

Wearb

In such circumstances, I would recommend switching it off at the consumer unit trip in case the switch overheats.

Wearb

Have you a zoned heating system ?

retro:electro

Cylinder is heating up now a small bit from the oil but it's going to take ages to heat up the water. I've the immersion switched to off. Wonder what could be wrong? Am stone broke I hope this isn't going to cost a fortune

Sleeper12

anna080 wrote:

Cylinder is heating up now a small bit from the oil but it's going to take ages to heat up the water. I've the immersion switched to off. Wonder what could be wrong? Am stone broke I hope this isn't going to cost a fortune

Sounds like the Immersion switch needs replacing

retro:electro

Sleeper12 wrote: »

Sounds like the Immersion switch needs replacing

How much would that cost do you know?

Sleeper12

anna080 wrote:

How much would that cost do you know?

I'd hazard a guess you'll pay 100 Euro or so far an electrician to supply and fit a new switch. You could use the oil to heat up the water while you save for the job. It's cheaper to heat the water by oil anyway.

retro:electro

Sleeper12 wrote: »

I'd hazard a guess you'll pay 100 Euro or so far an electrician to supply and fit a new switch. You could use the oil to heat up the water while you save for the job. It's cheaper to heat the water by oil anyway.

True it just takes way longer and can't be dealing with that in the mornings. Thanks

Wearb

If its working correctly and heating only the hot water, you should have lots of hot water in half an hour.

retro:electro

Wearb wrote: »

If its working correctly and heating only the hot water, you should have lots of hot water in half an hour.

If I turned off the radiators would it heat the cylinder quicker? I live on my own and am absolutely clueless

Bull76

If you have trv's on the radiators then close then off, turn then down to zero. That should heat up the hot tank.

Do you have zoned heating, programmer? Independent control of the heating and hot water? If not the closing the trv's will help a lot.

Wearb

If you don't have a lever/switch/thermostat to isolate the rads, then turn them off individually. Cylinder should heat up a LOT quicker.

retro:electro

My sisters boyfriend was just here and took a look at it. The cylinder was recently covered with a lagging jacket when the house was insulated even though it says on the cylinder "do not cover". He saw that there was a cable squashed up against the cylinder tank and said maybe this is the cause? It could be overheating? He removed the top bit of the jacket so the cable isn't pressured and the immersion is now coming on. I've included a pic of the white cable that was covered under the jacket and this cable is connected to the on/off switch

Wearb

The do not cover refers to the immersion heater only.

If moving the cable fixed something, then there may be a dangerous loose connection.

retro:electro

Wearb wrote: »

The do not cover refers to the immersion heater only.

If moving the cable fixed something, then there may be a dangerous loose connection.

The cable was covered under the lagging jacket and pressing against the tank so he just freed the cable so it's not under pressure

Sleeper12

anna080 wrote: »

The cable was covered under the lagging jacket and pressing against the tank so he just freed the cable so it's not under pressure

The cable used for immersions, boilers etc is extra thick. it's specially insulated & designed to deal with the heat so I wouldn't worry about the cable

Stephenc66

Wearb wrote: »

The do not cover refers to the immersion heater only.

If moving the cable fixed something, then there may be a dangerous loose connection.

+1 on that

Pinch Flat

for the hi jack but looking for a bit of guidance. Took off my immersion cap to see a damaged thermostat. Immersion was working intermittently. Replaced with the new stat and wired up identically, ensuring the earth connection is tight. Rcd is tripping now.

The old set up had the blue (neutral) going through the stat - surely this should be the live? Photo taken when cap removed - I took out the blue neutral wired through the thermostat to free it up.

Robbie.G

Pinch Flat wrote: »

for the hi jack but looking for a bit of guidance. Took off my immersion cap to see a damaged thermostat. Immersion was working intermittently. Replaced with the new stat and wired up identically, ensuring the earth connection is tight. Rcd is tripping now.

The old set up had the blue (neutral) going through the stat - surely this should be the live? Photo taken when cap removed - I took out the blue neutral wired through the thermostat to free it up.

On a dual immersion the neutral goes through the stat
So you have the brown going to one element the black to the other the neutrals of the stats are the ones linked together and into one side of the stat and the blue should go to the other make sure the earth is tighten up fully and not touching anything
And you should be sorted

Pinch Flat

Robbie.G wrote: »

On a dual immersion the neutral goes through the stat
So you have the brown going to one element the black to the other the neutrals of the stats are the ones linked together and into one side of the stat and the blue should go to the other make sure the earth is tighten up fully and not touching anything
And you should be sorted

Thanks for the reply. As it turns out the old immersion was shot, so put in a replacement. It's tripping the rcd so will need to investigate further.

Edit - problem solved, new immersion fitted and working. :pac: